Washing-machine



(No Model.) v

G. W. SPOONER. WASHING MACHINE.

No. 591,643. Patented Oct. 12,1897.

UNITED STrvr s PATENT O FI GEORGE WELLINGTON SPOONER, OF SYRACUSE, NElV YORK.

WASHING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent Ne. 591,643, dated October 12, 1s97.-

Application filed July 17,1896. Serial No. 599,480. on model.)

T0 aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE WELLINGTON SPOONER, of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Washing- Machines, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in,

my improved washing-machine, the lower portions of its supporting-standards being broken away. Figs. 2 and 3 are vertical sections taken, respectively, on lines 2 2 and 3 3, Fig. 1; and Fig. 4: is a face view of a detached portion of my improved washingmachine.

A represents a tub or receptacle for the water and the clothes to be cleaned, B suitable standards for said tub or receptacle, and C C C rollers for washing the clothes.

The tub or receptacle is of any suitable form, size, and construction, and the inner faces of its opposite sides are each preferably provided with substantially parallel ribs a, to the inner faces of which supporting-pieces A are removably secured by screws or other fastening means. The rollers O O O are usually provided at their opposite ends with projecting trunnions or spindles c c, generally formed by rods passed longitudinally through said rollers. The trunnions or spindles c c are journaled in the supportingpieces A and are preferably arranged in the lower ends of slots a, a extending downwardly from the upper edges of said supporting-pieces. The slots to for receiving the trunnions or spindles c are preferably considerably longer than the slots a which are arrangedon opposite sides of the upper ends of the slots to and receive the trunnions or spindles c. i f The roller 0 is formed'with lengthwise cor-- rugations orflutes c in its periphery,- which are preferably separated somewhat unequally from each other, and the rollers O arefof less diameter than the roller 0 and are usually provided with lengthwise rows of substantially semispherical projections 0 which project from their peripheries, enter th'e corru gations or flutes c and engage the ribs interposed between said corrugations or flutes. The lengthwise rows of the projections c are usually separated a less distance than the corrugations or flutes c and the projections of each row are usually arranged out of alinement with the projections of the next adjacent rows, as clearly seen at Fig. 1. One of the trunnions or spindles c of the rollers C is passed through a slot a which -is formed in the adjacent wall of the.tnb or receptacle A, is alined with the slots 7 co, and extends downwardly from the. top edge of said wall of the tub or receptacle A.- This slot a is normally closed by a cap 01. which is removably secured to said wall of the tub or receptacle and is provided with a rib 0 arranged in slots 64 for holding said trunnion c in position. The vouter end of said trunnion or spindle c is provided with a crank 0 and owing to the engagement of the projections c and the ribs formed by the corrugations or flutes c the crank c operates to simultaneously revolve the rollers O C ,O.

Suitable springs D operate to constantly force the rollers O 0 toward the roller 0 and are connected to the trunnions or spindles of said rollers. The springs D are preferably 'formed of coiled spring-wire and are arranged between the ribs a. The upper ends of said springs are secured to the trunnions or spin-' dles c, and their lower ends are connected to the opposite upturned extremities of substantially. U-shaped straps cl, having their central portions passed beneath the trunnions or spindles c. g

It is sometimes desirable to repair or replace the tub or receptacle A, one or more of the rollers O G O, and the springs D, or to use the tub or receptacle A for other purposes, and in that event said rollers and springs may be readily withdrawn from the tub or receptacle upon removing the cap a and elevatin g the rollers, together with their springs, until the trunnions c c are withdrawn from the slots a, CF.

The described arrangement and construction of the rollers 0 0'0 and their corrugagations or flutes c and the projections c is particularly practical and effective, as the projections 0 do not, when first engaged with the corresponding corrugations or flutes, exactly register therewith, although, owing to the action of the springs and the continued rotation of the rollers C O C, said projections finally enter said corrugations or flutes. Consequently the rollers O 0, when revolved by the roller 0, are forced up and down, even.

though the thickness of the clothes engaged thereby is uniform, and as the projections c register with the corrugations or flutes 0 they rub along the sides of said corrugations or flutes in substantially the same manner as the knuckles of a vwasherwomans hands rub along the corrugated surface of the wash-- of each row of said projections and the ar-.

rangement of the projections of one row out ofalinement with the projections of the next adjacent rows also adds greatly to the practicability and utility of my invention.

The operation of my invention will now be readily understood upon reference to the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings.

Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim as new, and desire to secure by:

Letters Patent, is

1. In a washing-machine, the combination of a tub or receptacle A having its opposite G having its opposite ends provided with trunnions journaled in the supporting-pieces A, additional rollers O movable toward and away from the first roller and each having its opposite ends provided with trunnions journaled in said supporting-pieces, substantially U shaped straps or connecting-pieces d interposed between the ribs a and having their central portions arranged beneaththe trunnions of the roller 0, and spiral springs D interposed between the ribs a and having their lower ends connected to the opposite extremities of the straps or connecting-pieces d and their upper ends connected to the trunnions of the rollers O, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. In a washing-machine, the'combination of a tub or receptacle A having one of its sides formed with a slot a extending downwardly from its upper edge, supporting-pieces A secured to the inner sides of the tubor receptacle A, and formed with slots a alined with the slot a a roller 0 having its opposite ends provided with trunnions c removably mounted in the slots a a and a cap a removably secured to the wall of the tub or receptacle formed with the slot a, said cap being provided with a rib a arranged in the slot a for holding the adjacent trunnion c in position, substantially asand for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto vsigned my name, in the presence of two attesting witnesses, at Syracuse, in the county GEORGE WELLINGTON SPOONER.

Vitnesses:

K. H. THEOBALD, H. E. CHASE. 

